1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus which has a structure in which liquid is ejected onto a medium for recording, the ejected liquid is heated and dried, and generated vapor thereof is collected by being liquefied.
2. Related Art
As examples of such a liquid ejecting apparatus, there are ink jet recording apparatuses which are described in JP-A-5-330033, JP-A-11-14258, and JP-A-2004-1426.
In JP-A-5-330033, the following is described.
A shielding member is provided located on a recording face side of a medium for recording which is transported. The shielding member covers a recording head, a heater for drying ink, and the medium for recording. The shielding member prevents solvent vapor of ink (which is generated due to heating using the heater) from diffusing outside. The vapor that is generated in a space surrounded by the shielding member is collected as liquid using a heat exchanger. Evaporated solvent vapor is thus prevented from being released to a surrounding environment.
In JP-A-11-14258, the following is described.
Drying equipment is provided in the rear portion of a recording head. After being recorded upon, a medium for recording is heated in the drying equipment. Vapors generated thereby are collected on the upper part in an exterior part The vapor is condensed by being upon contact with a radiation fin. Water drops that are generated due to liquefied vapor are collected using a fan, and are guided to a waste liquid tank.
In JP-A-2004-1426, the following is described.
In an ink jet printing apparatus, a structure is described in which only vapor of oil is liquefied from a mixture of vapor of oil and water which is generated when drying ink. The oil vapor is separated, and the water vapor is released to the atmosphere without being liquefied.
However, in the collection of vapor that is described in JP-A-5-330033 and JP-A-11-14258, only the liquefied vapor that is generated on (and rises from) the recording face side of a medium for recording is intended for collection. There is no description or suggestion regarding collecting (and liquefying thereof) vapor that is generated on the rear surface side (which is the opposite side to a recording face of the medium for recording). When recording is performed on cloth, or the like, using ink, a non-negligible amount of vapor is also generated on the rear side of a medium for recording using a heating process of ink. Rather, such a problem is not taken into consideration at all.
In JP-A-2004-1426, separating vapor of water and vapor and oil has been described in detail. However, there is no specific description of a structure of the portion that collects generated vapor. Taking into consideration the configuration of a platen 305, a print carriage 310, and a vent passage 330 that are illustrated in FIG. 3, (which is a similar configuration to that of JP-A-5-330033 and JP-A-11-14258), it is natural to consider that the intent is only to collect and liquefy vapor that is generated on (and rises from) the recording face side of a medium for recording.
Not to mention, there is no description or suggestion regarding collecting (or liquefying) vapor generated on the rear surface side (which is the opposite side to a recording face of a medium for recording). In addition, when recording is performed on cloth, or the like, using ink, a non-negligible amount of vapor is generated also on the rear side. However such a problem is not taken into consideration at all.